Artist Process

“When the holiday earnings that had supplemented the weak winter and early spring shows and sales were gone….”

“Arturo continued looking for a ridge or valley line within the surface where a feature could begin to emanate….”

“…in the history of western financial markets, the cycles endlessly repeat themselves….”

“Texture and color appealed and somewhat satisfied Arturo, yet he knew it was not enough….”

“…muscles aching, Arturo slowly loaded the screens and boxes of unsold paintings and prints back into his car. The route to the Gulfview side road to Galveston, crested over a small but high causeway, the early spring evening fog filtering the star light….”

“Shows and sales after Christmas were slow….“

“Anna’s dad paused and looked cleanly at Arturo. ‘You are, you say, a poor American.’ Arturo nodded, forcing a smile. ‘But you are here, in my land.’”

“The early morning drive each morning from Galveston to the small regional mall over the Causeway to the mainland, was….”

“One month of selling during the Christmas season in a mall would prove their true compatibility, he felt….”

“In July he began cutting mats and foam board for the prints, planning and finishing small works easier to sell, and securing a December booth at a nearby regional mall.“

“One more Christmas season rolled past them, as the spent the holidays visiting their children or having them back home for festive meals and teasing each other about their varied plans.“

“They sat side by side in the booth, talking about their family, the weather….”

“Much like art, Arturo thought to himself, walking up the stone-touched step way to a nearby church where they taught other seniors, yes, produce from the heart….”

“Their exhausted satisfaction with their day at the art festival, left Rosetta and Arturo surprisingly wanting, needing, their own personal exhaustion, with each other.“

“… he felt his body resting upon the bed.”

“Crying for movement, his body ached for down time from the active stillness of painting.”

“Arturo began to search for an emerging wholeness in the images.“

“Time, waiting for such a large show as the one happening that evening, in the small town near their sleepy fisherman’s village along the Mediterranean….”

“Arturo’s varied images of pale abstracts, semi-abstract florals, charcoal drawings, and neo impressionist color-streamings, attracted a range of curious viewers.“

“Testing Rosetta’s idea to do art shows, Arturo found a listing posted at a local gallery for an outdoor arts and crafts shows.“

“Arturo needed another option. “Have you tried these?” a small child at the local art store asked him….”

“Acrylics proved a fair substitute, but his desire to blend….”

“Next he purchased small tubes of oils….”

“In the beginning, he first tried watercolors, but not knowing how to use them, and, thinking that their watery nature came ready from the tube….”

“And forever more, the ancient scripture and his parents had joined. The value of two or more. Two thousand miles northeast, still years before….”

“Where two or more come together in my name….”

“Evening masses were best remembered in the old wood church he grew up in.“

“Macario’s hotel was the modernized fortress playing visual counterpoint to….”

“The long afternoons with late evenings before the sun would set, meant the art show was….”

“On her third trip to Galveston to visit with Arturo, Rosetta….”

“They both grinned quietly, remembering their newness together….”

“…entering this apartment on the second floor, with tree views through the open wood windows….”

“Painting had just done the same thing for him.“

“… what he loved most about the original impressionists’ works.”

“Rosetta glanced down at the list of sandwiches and lunch dishes.“

“It took Arturo three days to convince Rosetta to go to lunch with him.“

“Lunch, for Arturo, had, over the years, become an art of patience and time….”

“One set of knowns helped reveal another set of unknowns.“

“Even with attention-seeking Sundance, Arturo and Rosetta were bees to….”

“The breeze whispered more, but too quietly to grasp. Arturo didn’t mind, his heart was filling with expectations….”

“Arturo grasped a small canvas, inlaid with soft overlapping rows of wide brush strokes. Blue-grey, like worn bolts on an old wheel….”

“ It would be lunch time soon Arturo sensed….”

“ …at the far end of the table, across from the side he had chosen to go down….”

“Her clash of ancestors….”

“Galveston, initially, proved almost as problematic as it did promising.“

“The sergeant reached down to the plain wood table beside him, pinched a small safety razor, and lifted it up to the room.“

“In the Air Force, shaving everyday is like the sun rising, expected.“

“In the early spring, with fog on the waves, Arturo moved to Galveston. History shows, he reflected, the weather is less predictable there….”

“After another try, with an artistically supportive woman….”